This comic imagines how things would have gone if Spider-Man’s story started in 1962 and continued through to the modern day. So often we see fantastical characters like this in just a small window of time, experiencing adventures in the prime of their life, so I absolutely loved the idea of portraying him as a much more “real” person passing through time and growing old.
Peter Parker is one of my favourite Marvel characters, and what I really appreciated about this story was how it showed exactly how much of a toll going through all of these adventures would take on a person as they grew older. Admittedly, I didn’t recognise the source material for all of the adventures you see him going through, but I did certainly appreciate it when I understood the reference. Even when I didn’t, I felt that this was written in such a way that you don’t need to be intimately familiar with the older comics if you want to enjoy this story.
In the earlier parts of the story, I really appreciated the extent to which it was tied into history and Peter grappling with the ethics of the Vietnam War and whether or not he had a responsibility to get involved with it was really cool to see. The original comics from the ’60s don’t really tie into current affairs, so it’s really cool to see them kind of recontextualised as a piece of historic fiction. It was a shame that this was missing from the later chapters though, but at the same time, I did also really like reading about older Spider-Man, so it balanced out.
Another thing that I really liked about this was Peter’s relationships with other characters. Mary Jane, Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy, Reed Richards, and various others. You really feel the weight of many years behind them as Peter ages and moves through time – and seeing them all growing and aging too gives the whole thing quite a sentimental sort of feeling. I felt quite invested in all his different relationships and it made the whole thing feel a lot more real.
In summary, I’d describe this as a celebration of Spider-Man – and a fairly bittersweet one at that. It’s filled to the brim with references and cameos that are sure to delight Marvel fans, and even if you’re level of Spider-Man fandom isn’t super deep, I think you’ll still be able to get a lot out of this comic. The art by Mark Bagley is great too.
Rating: 9/10
